– Fifth and sixth place for Casale and Ferreira
– Accident of Merce Marti
On the first long special stage of the Dakar 2023, all X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype side-by-sides attacked. After 367 kilometres, the two crews Ignacio Casale / Alvaro Leon and Joao Ferreira / Filipe Palmeiro secured fifth and sixth place. Ricardo Porém and Augusto Sanz just missed the top 10 with eleventh place, while Ahmed Alkuwari and Manuel Lucchese achieved a very good twelfth place. The two duos Annett Fischer / Annie Seel and Camelia Liparoti / Xavier Blanco finished the day in 17th and 19th place. Merce Marti and Lisette Bakker unfortunately suffered an accident, but fortunately remained unhurt.
Today’s stage was a real challenge. In the first part, the drivers encountered many stones and rocks. There were a few punctures, but most of the vehicles made it through well. This put them in a good starting position for tomorrow’s second stage.
Ignacio Casale: « Today was a very good stage for us. We started behind some trucks and they were very difficult to overtake. They had also damaged the track quite a bit, but we made it. We are very happy with the fifth position. Tomorrow we have a better starting position and then everything looks much better. »
Joao Ferreira: « We were able to overtake many competitors today. Because of that it was a very dusty race for us. Nevertheless, we managed to finish sixth. We are very happy about that. »
Ricardo Porém: « The Dakar has started now – this was the first real stage. However, there were many stones and rocks. I used the day to get to know the car and Augusto even better. Due to a puncture we lost some time. »
Annett Fischer: « That was a stage to ‘break something’ – with a lot of stones. That’s why we took it easy. Luckily we only had one puncture. At the end there were some really nasty dunes. We just managed to get out in the light. »
Tomorrow, the Dakar armada leaves the Sea Camp in the direction of Alula. The participants have to complete 430 kilometres against the clock. Most of the stage consists of dirt roads and the pilots have to be prepared for difficult navigation. The end of the stage leads through the dunes again.
Dakar Rally – result SS1
1. F. Lopez / J. Latrach – Can-Am – 3h 48m 36s
2. G. de Mevius / F. Cazalet – OT3 – 3h 50m 36s
3. S. Quintero / D. Zenz – Can-Am – 3h 51m 56s
4. A. Jones / G. Gugelmin – Can-Am – 3h 52m 01s
5. I. Casale / A. Leon – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 3h 52m 29s
6. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 3h 59m 00s…
11. R. Porém / A. Sanz – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 08m 49s
12. A. Alkuwari / M. Lucchese – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 10m 55s…
17. A. Fischer / A. Seel – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 31m 22s…
20. C. Liparoti / X. Blanco – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 36m 38s…
Overall standings after SS1
1. F. Lopez / J. Latrach – Can-Am – 3h 57m 40s
2. G. de Mevius / F. Cazalet – OT3 – 3h 59m 29s
3. S. Quintero / D. Zenz – Can-Am – 4h 00m 47s
4. A. Jones / G. Gugelmin – Can-Am – 4h 01m 12s
5. I. Casale / A. Leon – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 01m 40s
6. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 08m 23s…
11. R. Porém / A. Sanz – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 17m 53s
12. A. Alkuwari / M. Lucchese – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 20m 23s…
17. A. Fischer / A. Seel – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 41m 17s…
20. C. Liparoti / X. Blanco – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 47m 05s….